Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
This long lost film by Cecil B. DeMille, The Captive is an interesting time capsule and makes for an interesting, if not quick, viewing just to see a film from that era. The Blu-ray released through Olive actually is half impressive; although there are no features, the video doesn’t look bad and the music comes through nicely enough.
Supernatural: The Complete Eleventh Season manages to keep up the energy in spite of going on over a decade on the air. The performances are pretty much standard for Padalecki and Ackles but they’re still in top form and the storyline for the season at least feels fresh and is entertaining.
Continue reading “Review: Supernatural: The Complete Eleventh Season BD + Screen Caps”
Hard Target 2 isn’t a half-bad DTV flick though it is pretty standard fare and probably went on a good 10-minutes too long. Still, Scott Adkins makes for a serviceable action hero with the right amount of charisma to pull off the role while seeing Robert Knepper playing a villain is always a welcome.
Criminal Minds: Season 11 still has some entertainment value mainly for its cast, though it is a letdown after a nice 10th season, but seeing the departure of another veteran cast member makes me wonder if next year will be its last which will be hurt once Thomas Gibson is gone following his much publicized dismissal.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows might’ve been an ever-so-slight improvement over its predecessor but that’s not saying a whole lot. It’s still too Bayish for my taste and the inordinate amount of visual effects makes it tiring, though the fan service at least makes it a tolerable enough experience.
Continue reading “Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows 3D BD + Screen Caps”
Road House is another classic of the 1980s, a fun romp with a cheesy story and yet Patrick Swayze has more than enough charm to pull it off and make it all the more memorable.
James Wan’s The Conjuring 2 is the rare horror-sequel that at least matches the quality of the original with some genuine scares and well written character development for the Warrens in conjunction with fine performances by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga.
I so wanted to love and embrace the insanity of Urge, and yet with a few absolutely unlikeable characters and a story that devolves into zombie apocalypse territory, I can’t recommend it. However, it might be worth a rental.
Star Wars Rebels: Complete Season Two is a strong entry into the series with some decent animation to go along with well written storylines and nice character development.
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CSI: Cyber is the worst in the CSI franchise and beyond that, the performances were subpar and the stories contrived even by standards of CSI. I had hopes Ted Danson coming over would help but it didn’t appear his character had much to offer although any scene he was in brought much needed charisma.
Continue reading “Review: CSI: Cyber – The Final Season DVD”
Ratchet & Clank is a perfectly safe movie for younger viewers and passable enough for parents to watch with them, however between the animation and story, this probably better off as a direct-to-video release than something a studio spent millions to release to theaters.
While Castle: The Complete Eighth Season is one of the weaker seasons, there were still some entertaining episodes here and there even if the writing wasn’t as tight and the relationship between Castle and Beckett seemed… off. While it’s probably a good thing the studio pulled the plug, I wouldn’t have minded a 13-episode ninth season to nicely wrap things up
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Now You See Me 2 is not the type of movie that will tax your mind but instead is a perfectly serviceable caper-comedy, one that succeeds more on the chemistry with the ensemble, with newcomer Lizzy Caplan being the highlight, rather than anything to do with the thin plot, though I did appreciate some of the magic even if it’s CGI-generated.
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Paul Schrader’s drama is disturbing and excels both with the writing, also by Schrader, as well as powerful performances from George C. Scott and Peter Boyle, even if for the former it might not make the list of his top 5 roles, but it’s harrowing nevertheless.
Me Before You is a film adaptation that attempted to capitalize on the massive success of The Fault in Our Stars not to mention it’s the latest rom-drama in the vein of a Nicolas Sparks adaption sans an overabundance of sappiness, though the heavy-handedness doesn’t quite mesh with some of the more levity of light-hearted scenes that came before.